SLC H.B. 3178 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS LAND & RESOURCE MANAGEMENT H.B. 3178 By: Lewis, Ron 5-2-97 Committee Report (Amended) BACKGROUND Current law allows municipalities to claim areas to be within their extraterritorial jurisdictions based on the population of the municipalities. Often, this means that cities can extend their reach into neighboring counties and into areas that, if annexed, would be inadequately served by the municipality. This occurrence can result from poor access to areas in need of service due to difficult terrain, distance from the service provider or other obstacles. The purpose of ETJ's is to allow cities to have a limited amount of control over adjacent areas that one day may be annexed by the cities. This allowance is for the protection of the health, safety and welfare of the residents of those areas. If a city will be unable to provide adequately for the needs of the residents within its ETJ, then that city should not be afforded the opportunity to exert any control over or benefit from that territory. Proximity to a service area and distance between an area to be served and the municipality providing service are indicators of the quality of service that will be provided to an annexed area. If quality of service is likely to be less than could be provided by another municipality, then the purpose of protecting health, safety and general welfare is not being served. PURPOSE HB 3178 prevents a city from extending its ETJ into an area outside the county in which a majority of the corporate area of the city is located and which is separated from the city by a navigable stream. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 42, Local Government Code, is amended by adding Sec. 42.026 as follows: Sec. 42.026. LIMITATION ON EXTRATERRITORIAL JURISDICTION OF CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES. (a) Applies only to a home-rule municipality located in whole or in part in a county with a population of 240,000 or less. (b) Prevents the ETJ of municipality from including territory located outside the county in which a majority of the land area of the municipality is located and territory separated from the municipality's corporate boundaries by a navigable stream. (c) Defines "navigable stream". SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1997. SECTION 3. Emergency clause. EXPLANATION OF AMENDMENTS Committtee Amendment No. 1 by B. Turner This amendment simply strikes the language contained on page 1 that states "located in whole or part" and substitutes the phrase "the majority of which is located".